Our Approach
We meet women at every stage of adulthood to help them heal and find wholeness so they can live empowered lives, thriving in connection to both themselves, their relationships and their community at large. At the Triangle Healing Center, we believe that we have the ability to change the world by healing one nervous system at a time. The change that manifests in one being is positively contagious and it is our hope that this will raise the collective consciousness and bring light, love and healing to the world.
“Nervous system?! What is that and what role does it play in healing?”
Most folks are familiar with talk therapy approaches that evaluate family of origin background, maladaptive patterns, communication difficulties, role dysfunction, and problematic belief systems through a cognitive (thinking) and behavioral approach, with interventions and coping skill development. Don’t worry, we cover all those foundational components too…BUT we focus on the special ingredient: nervous system regulation!
Research in neuroscience in the last ten years has taught us more than ever about “How The Body Keeps The Score” (a must read book written by Bessel van der Kolk) that describes how the brain processes traumatic events that become stored in the body. Sometimes we say the body is “stuck in the past” still perceiving and physiologically responding to a threat from long ago whether that was a hostile parent, loss of a loved one, a toxic relationship, witnessing something scary, a sense of abandonment, or distinctive threat to your life for example. This can be very frustrating and sometimes debilitating to live with when these (false) alarm bells are still going off and often our clients report feeling like their emotions or body sensations have more control over them than they have over it! Often we hear that talk therapy has been helpful in providing psychoeducation, basic mindfulness skills and a broader understanding of oneself, but our clients often found themselves in moments of stress defaulting to an involuntary, almost visceral and primal pattern of responding that has been problematic for them. This IS the work of the autonomic nervous system at play working to protect you from threat to ensure your survival. But a strategy that was once useful to your body, can now be a hindrance to your daily life and progress if it isn’t adaptive. If you are looking for that next level of therapeutic work, you have come to the right place.
We know what to do…change is possible…and we’re great at getting results!
“We believe in the body’s innate power to heal itself”
Our approach to therapy is to bring the mind back into connection with the body, create a sense of safety and expansiveness, while strengthening your ability to embody your emotions and sensations fully without them overwhelming your nervous system (and sending it into threat mode again!). We will help to reprogram the way in which distressing memories, events, or images are triggering strong physical or emotional reactions in you. With compassion and care, we will help unpack whatever is blocking you from living your best life, teach you how to track your nervous system, and listen to what your body, emotions or spirit are trying to communicate to you so that you can deepen your connection to your intuition and tap into the innate wisdom of the Self. We will help you understand how to optimize your window of tolerance to maximize your capacity for the bigger and better life you desire for yourself!
Our work is informed by evidenced-based best practices in the treatment of trauma and stress-related conditions. Our staff is passionate about their work, certified and trained by the industry’s top researchers, scientists, leaders and healers such as:
- Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing)
- Pat Ogden (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Complex PTSD)
- Richard Swartz (Internal Family Systems aka IFS)
- J. Bowlby, M. Ainsworth, Stan Tatkin, and Diane Pool-Heller (Attachment Theory)
- Sue Johnson (Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples aka EFT)
- Laurence Heller (NeuroAffective Relational Model aka NARM)
- Francine Shapiro (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing aka EMDR)
- Judy Singer (affirming support of NeuroDiversity at every level of well being)